History is intersectional.

Our history is intersectional.

When I started on Spoutible all the way back in 2023, I made the most obvious point ever. That is, I have said that Black History, Women’s History, LGBTQ+ History, AAPI/Subcontinent Asian history, and so on intersects. Think about for example, over 13,000 years ago, when the first nations crossed the (then) frozen Bering Straight and went through to North and South America, and were there peacefully until the settlers arrived. We now know that the settlers had to learn how to do everything from the First Nations, but did them dirty…and later we had the trail of tears, boarding schools and so on.

Also we know that from Black History…a good number of Black People were used as slaves…though it took the USA until 1864 to realize that slavery was wrong. However reconstruction was ruined by John Wilkes-Booth who had shot and killed Abraham Lincoln…and put in a Trump-type, Andrew Johnson into office. Also after that was when Jim Crow happened, and a lot of the statues celebrating the confederacy was erected.

The part about that was that Robert E. Lee did not want such accolades as even he knew he was a loser in the Civil War. He also knew that it would be a losing proposition that such monuments be erected in the first place. Those who say that the monuments should stand/should have stood say “it’s for the sake of history.” However, they were erected in the 1890s-1900s as a “Know your place” kind of deal.

Here is the portrait of Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. He was of German decent, but he helped out the colonists during the Revolutionary war giving them a very strict (by those standards) European-style training, which helped them become more disciplined. Also it is generally acknowledged that he was gay. However, he never identified as such.

There are many examples of such history intersecting. However, this also is where the ugliness comes in. When the 19th amendment was passed…have you noticed that there were a lot of pictures of White women suffragettes? Back then the aim was to get women the right to vote…however because of heavy racism…it was white women who got it. It wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that gave all the right to vote.

Also as tragic as some parts of these histories are, there are also some triumphs of history. For example Shirley Chisholm who became the first black woman to became a member of the US Senate. Also she did try to run for the presidency but was not successful (which sadly is a theme even now (Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris both losing to Donald Trump).

Yes, as we come to the close of Black History Month, I would like to remind you all of this…all history is year round. Don’t just use the month to bring awareness of all the history…use every day to bring all of the history. Yes there are YouTube channels like Extra Credits, and Oversimplified. Use these as a springboard to dive deeper into history.

Also unlike Texas, don’t buy faulty incorrect books. You have the internet, and you also can buy factually correct history books to teach not only yourself, but your children. After all, the history we’re taught is the baseline…however if you wanna know the truth, that’s going to kick off your curiosity.